How to Make the SCMR With a Tatting Needle

Tatting can create beautiful and durable lace designs using various combinations of chains and rings of knots and small loops, called picots. As you get better, and designs become more complex, you'll encounter floating rings that appear to be made on top of another ring. This isn't possible with a basic ring. To achieve the floating ring, you must first learn to make a self-closing mock ring, abbreviated SCMR.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Determine where your SCMR is going to be. You can make it at the beginning of a piece or in the middle of a chain.

2. Make a loop with the core thread, if you're creating a SCMR in the middle of a chain. The core thread is the thread that you thread through the eye of the needle and tie the double stitches onto. Make sure this loop isn't twisted, and then proceed with the next step.

3. Create the body of the SCMR. Stitch whatever double stitches and picots the pattern calls for to make up the SCMR. You'll create these as if you're making a normal chain.

4. Pull the needle partially through the stitches, if you're creating a SCMR in the beginning of a piece. You'll pull it through as usual, but don't pull the needle thread all the way through the chain. This creates the loop you need for the next step.

5. Close the SCMR. Put the needle through the starting ring, or the loop of core thread you made in the middle of your chain. Pull the needle thread tight, which pulls the core thread through the stitches and picots you made. Draw the loop tight against your stitches, creating a ring. At this point, your SCMR looks like a true ring. However, since you created it as a chain, you can add one or more rings in the midst of working the body of the SCMR to create floating rings.

6. Secure your SCMR. Cross the needle thread over the ball thread. Then bring it under the ball thread and through the loop the crossed threads made and pull the threads tight. This is the same technique as the first part of tying a shoelace. For this reason, it's often called the shoelace trick or the SLT.

7. Continue your tatting work.